Recent Updates

Spelling correction of the word "Assohles", I fixed the typo and changed it to "Assholes". I also capitalized the words "French", and "English" in the description section.
I got the following errors when I attempted to submit my corrections so I had to download, resize, and upload/change the images as well:
1. 'https://www.romhacking.net/translations/gameboy/images/2592screenshot1.png' is a size of 320x288 which is invalid for platform: 'Game Boy'! Native resolutions for this platform are 160x144. Additional Information.
2. 'https://www.romhacking.net/translations/gameboy/images/2592screenshot2.png' is a size of 320x288 which is invalid for platform: 'Game Boy'! Native resolutions for this platform are 160x144. Additional Information.
3. 'https://www.romhacking.net/translations/gameboy/images/2592screenshot3.png' is a size of 320x288 which is invalid for platform: 'Game Boy'! Native resolutions for this platform are 160x144. Additional Information.
4. 'https://www.romhacking.net/translations/gameboy/images/2592titlescreen.png' is a size of 320x288 which is invalid for platform: 'Game Boy'! Native resolutions for this platform are 160x144. Additional Information.

Game Description:

Ahhh, the famous Seiken Densetsu 3. Calling this game “Secret of Mana 2″ in front of the romhacking “scene” elite will earn you a quick correction, let me tell you something. Just think, all the newbies just take it for granted that SD3 is in English. You guys didn’t have to endure the sheer pain that came before. The dull, empty void. Such is the way of all translations, I suppose.

So yeah, this is Seiken Densetsu 3, which is (still) to date the only game in the series to not make it overseas. It’s a damned shame too, because this installment is unquestionably the best. Sure, Secret of Mana may give it some competition, but I couldn’t stand SoM for some reason. And the less said about Sword of Mana the better.

SD3 uses the old Squaresoft crutch of multiple playable characters within the same timeframe (see: Rudra, RS3). The whole “see the same events from a different perspective” thing works out really well here, it turns out. I seem to say that about every game, though. As far as gameplay, if you’ve played Secret of Mana you know what to expect. If you’ve played the others in the series, like Legend of Mana or Final Fantasy Adventure… well, you still know what to expect: run around and hit things with your sword. In realtime. It’s like Zelda, Squareified, for a complete lack of a better comparison.

Hiroki Kikuta returns (I think) to compose the music in SD3. The end result is gorgeous. The game comes highly recommended, but play the game for its music, if nothing else.

Translation Description:

Some call it “the best Super Famicom game ever”, some
dismiss it as just another boring action game. But most
people agree that Square made a grave mistake when they
decided not to market Seiken Densetsu 3 overseas -
especially after the success of its predecessor, Secret of
Mana.

Around 1996 and 1997, the growth of the internet, combined
with the increasing popularity of video game emulators,
sparked a number of unofficial game translation projects.
Several of these came into fruition; most notably the RPGe
translation of Final Fantasy 5, and Neo Demiforce’s Final
Fantasy 2 project. These groups proved that such projects
were not only possible, but feasible as well.

Some of the more complex games, however, have proven too
big a challenge for the fan translation community. Seiken
Densetsu 3 obscures its text behind numerous layers of
compression, putting it well out of reach of the casual
hex editor.

In April of 1998, the RPGe web site announced that Richard
Bush had quit his Seiken Densetsu 3 translation project.
Neill Corlett decided that his effort would be well-
spent in seeing this project through, overcoming all the
technical obstacles, bringing to the English-speaking
world a game we should have had in the first place.

With technical issues out of the way, translator SoM2Freak
went to work. He finished the enemy names, item names,
spell names, menu selections, and a small portion of the
script itself, before leaving for Japan in spring of 1999.
Translators Lina`chan (whose work includes the unofficial
Magic Knight Rayearth translation) and Nuku-nuku finished
the remainder of the script.

It’s a shame that Neill Corlett isn’t really into ROM hacking anymore, because he did a hell of a job. Also a hell of a script edit.